It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

I've been waiting for decades to see this movie and finally I've done it. My interest was very high, considering the names of the two directors and a few names in the cast. Well, I was very disappointed. Most of the other reviewers gave it 10 stars. I can not give it more than 1 star, that is the minimum possible. Because I didn't like anything, the story is particularly irrelevant, nothing makes sense. Anita Pallenberg and Michèle Breton show their empty bodies absolutely free to pass the time, almost half of the movie that's what we see. I can not even talk about their "acting" performance... I like Mick Jagger, as a singer, in Rolling Stones, but as an actor, really... James Fox is a good actor, but he has no place in this movie. Static, boredom, big waste of time!

It's fascinating to see how this movie which was made in the late 1960s, develops from a routine crime drama into an exploration of the nature of identity, sexuality and reality. By the standards of the time, it was clearly ambitious, innovative and challenging but that's only half the story because its dazzling visual style, which facilitates the process so effectively, was also an introduction to the highly individual approach which became such a familiar feature of co-director Nicolas Roeg's later films. Montages, superimposed images and editing that intentionally disrupts the chronology of the narrative, are just some of the stylistic flourishes that are used to good effect in "Performance" to blur the lines between various identities and what's real and what's imagined.Chas (James Fox) is a sadistic young criminal who works as an enforcer for London crime boss Harry Flowers (Johnny Shannon). He's well-dressed, very good at his job and recognised by his fellow gang-members as someone who really enjoys his work. His ability to terrorise people into seeing the benefits of the "protection" that his boss' organisation provides is also well recognised but when he gets involved in a job where a man he's known since childhood is involved, things go badly because he hates the guy and kills him. This doesn't go down well with Harry Flowers and so to save his own life, Chas immediately has to go on the run. A conversation he overhears in a railway station waiting room alerts him to the fact that there could be a vacant apartment in Notting Hill Gate which he could use as a temporary hideout.At the mansion of retired rock star Turner (Mick Jagger), Chas introduces himself as Johnny Dean and claims to be a professional juggler. His new surroundings are not what he expects because the rather eccentric Turner lives with a couple of bi-sexual women called Pherber (Anita Pallenberg) and Lucy (Michele Breton). Chas tries to change his appearance by dying his hair and only intends to stay in his basement accommodation until he can get his hands on a forged passport and leave the country for good.Chas' initial antipathy to the lifestyle of the house's other three residents who regularly sleep and bath together slowly changes after he gets to know Pherber more closely and begins to take on some of Turner's characteristics. The faded rock star had given up his career when he'd lost his "demon" which had been the source of his inspiration and creativity and starts to see Chas (who also considers himself a performer) as possessing some quality which might enable him to recover his lost muse. The mind games and hallucinogenic mushrooms that Chas is then exposed to, change him profoundly, but will this bring back Turner's demon? The musical number in which Turner assumes Chas' identity in an imagined situation where he interacts with other members of the Flowers gang is brilliantly conceived, highly entertaining and thoroughly consistent with the movie's main themes. It also forms part of a soundtrack that's perfect for this exceptional film.The use of androgynous characters (Lucy and Turner), gay gangsters and visual references to the works of Francis Bacon and Jorge Luis Borges also provide indications of some of the plot's preoccupations but it's the recurring use of mirrors that ultimately provides the movie with its most memorable motif. With excellent performances, especially from Jagger and Fox and its ground-breaking visual techniques, "Performance" is definitely a movie that's not to be missed.

I remember this film as listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die mainly because of the lead singer of The Rolling Stones in a leading role, I was looking forward to seeing what it was like, from directors Donald Cammell (Demon Seed, Wild Side) and debuting Nicolas Roeg (Walkabout, Don't Look Now, The Man Who Fell to Earth). Basically Chas (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's James Fox) is a thug in the East End of London, who works for gang leader Harry Flowers (Johnny Shannon), he revels in his work with his sadistic nature and intimidation through violence, and he has many many casual and rough sexual liaisons. When a betting shop owned by Joey Maddocks (Anthony Valentine) is to be taken over Flowers forbids Chas from getting involved, as he has history with Maddocks, angry about this ignores him and humiliates Maddocks, and his old rival retaliates wrecking his apartment and beating him, and Chas shoots him and runs away, Flowers refuses to give him protection and now wants him eliminated. Chas initially decides to hide in countryside, but he instead stays in London, he assumes the new name Johnny Dean and he finds the Notting Hill house of reclusive and eccentric former rock musician Turner (Mick Jagger), and moving in he gets close to female inhabitant Pherber (Anita Pallenberg), she and Lucy (Michele Breton) enjoy a non-possessive bisexual sexual relationship. Turner and Chas start off not liking each other much, but slowly influence each other in certain things, and Chas even shows homophobic tendencies, so Turner and Pherber want to understand his conflict and help him in some way, so they give him hallucinogenic drugs and he opens up, explaining a caring relationship, and outgrowing psychological boundaries while functioning as a stereotypical masculine man in a gangster world. The film ends with the gangsters eventually catching up to where Chas has been hiding, Chas for some reasons shoots and kills Turner, while Pherber is hiding in the cupboard, he seems to be welcomed back by his boss Flowers as told by another thug Rosebloom/Rosie (Stanley Meadows), of course this is just a ploy to have him killed, and we see an unknown face through the window of the car that drives away, it is unclear if it is Chas or Turner. Also starring Ann Sidney as Dana, John Bindon as Moody and Allan Cuthbertson as The Lawyer. Fox plays his role as the masochistic gangster going to into hiding well, but to me Jagger stole the show as the odd landlord who still wants to be making small tunes but has perhaps lost his flair, the story is fragmented and may be confusing most of the time, but with the distinctive style, high amount of controversial violence and interesting hallucinogenic material and imagery it is a worthwhile drama. It was nominated the BAFTA for Best Film Editing. Very good!

We watched this last night. My partner has been waxing lyrical about this films for as long as we've been together. i've always been fairly resistant to be honest - I've always enjoyed listening to the Stones, but never really got 'The Stones'. As far as I was concerned they are rock legends, sure but that's about the size of it. Their really great mid sixties stuff was contemporary Waaaaay before my time. I really didn't get the whole Stones mystique. Well, I can say I now get it. Wow do I! I can't say I've ever been a massive believer in the 'Mick Jagger Sex God' hype. But I can see why he had the rep he did - So dark and alluring and dangerously different. This film has certainly opened my eyes up to a whole new world ... I'm really looking forward to re-listening to their albums with this new world view.